Illuminating system for toy helicopters



July 9, 1968 as COOK 3,3 38

' ILLUMINATING SYSTEM FOR TOY HELICOPTERS Filed March 18, 1966uvvszvron. 24a 1 24b CALV|N s. COOK Q BY and, WOGI I T W mu NW ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent 3,391,488 ILLUMINATING SYSTEM FOR TOY HELICOPTERSCalvin S. Cook, Erie, Pa., assignor to Louis Marx & Co., Inc., New York,N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 535,397 10Claims. (Cl. 46-228) The present invention relates to toys and inparticular to toy helicopters.

The present invention relates especially to a structure for providingillumination for toy helicopters.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a toyhelicopter with an illuminating system which will be very entertainingto the operator of the toy.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a toyhelicopter with an illuminating system capable of describing a circle oflight during rotation of the heli- Copter rotor.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a helicopterwith a structure capable of providing a multicolored circle of lightduring rotation of the rotor.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide an exceedingly simpleand inexpensive and at the same time very rugged illuminating system forilluminating and extinguishing lamps carried by the rotor of a toyhelicopter.

In particular, the objects of the invention include a structure whichwill make it very simple to turn the lamps on and off.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a structure whichmakes it very simple to replace a battery.

Primarily with the structure of the invention the toy helicopter willhave at least one of its rotor blades provided with a lamp socket, whilethe rotor means which includes the latter blade carries abattery-support means which accommodates an electric battery. Anelectrical circuit means is also carried by the rotor means of the toyhelicopter and electrically interconnects a battery carried by thebattery-support means and the lamp socket, and this electrical circuitmeans includes a manually operable switch which can be closed by theoperator for purpose of illuminating a lamp carried by the lamp socketand which can be opened for the purpose of extinguishing the lamp.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings which form part of the application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic illustration of one possibleembodiment of a toy helicopter provided with the structure of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal fragmentary sectional elevation, taken alongline 22 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows, and showing, on anenlar ed scale as compared to FIG. 1, the details of the structure ofthe invention in association with the rotor of the toy helicopter;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section of the structure of FIG. 1 taken alongline 33 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows, and showing not onlyrotor details but also the drive means for the rotor;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section of a rotor blade, taken along line 4-4 ofFIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows, and showing how a lamp is carriedby the rotor;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the switch and battery-support means of theinvention, taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3 in the direction of thearrows; and

FIG. 6 is a wiring diagram of the electric circuit used in' theparticular embodiment illustrated in the drawings.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown therein a toy helicopter 10which can have any suitable construction. In the illustrated example thetoy helicopter 10 includes a fuselage 12 and landing runners 14. Theinterior of the 3,391,488 Patented July 9, 1968 ice fuselage 12accommodates a source of power 16 which is diagrammatically illustratedin FIG. 1 and may take the form of any spring motor, capable of beingmanually wound in any suitable Way, or an electric motor.

Situated over the fuselage 12 is the rotor 18 which includes the centralhub 20 (FIG. 2) as well as a pair of opposed rotor blades 22a and 2211.As is apparent from FIG. 1 as well as FIG. 4, these rotor blades areinclined so as to give a screw action which will elevate the toy whenthe rotor 18 is driven.

In accordance with the invention the rotor blades 22a and 22b carryadjacent their outer tips a pair of lamp sockets for receiving lamps 24aand 241), respectively. FIGS. 2 and 4 illustrate the lamp socket 2611which receives the lamp 24a in a removable manner as through a threadedor bayonet connection, well known in the art. A similar socket iscarried by the blade 22b adjacent its outer tip to removably receive thelamp 24b.

A battery-support means 28 is carried by the hub 22 of the rotor means18 for supporting a battery 30 in the form of a simple cylindrical drycell readily available on the market. Thus, the support means 28 takesthe form of a cylindrical casing 32 which can be made of any suitableelectrically non-conductive material such as a plastic molded integrallywith the blades 22a and 22b, as is indi-- cated in FIG. 3. This casing32 of the battery-support means 28 has an open end capable of beingremovably closed by a. plastic cover 34 which has an outer circularflange surrounding the open end of the casing 32 and freely turnablethereon. For this purpose the flange of the cover has at its free edgean inwardly directed lip received in a groove of the casing 32, and thecover 34 is flexible and springy so that it can be snapped to and fromthe position shown in FIG. 3 for closing the casing 32. Thus, in orderto replace the battery 30 it is only necessary to remove the cover 34,replace an exhausted battery with a fresh battery, and then place thecover 34.

An electrical circuit means is provided for electrically interconnectingthe lamp sockets with the battery-support means 28 in such a way that abattery carried by the latter can be placed in electrical communicationwith lamps carried by the sockets. The circuit means includes a pair ofwires 36 electrically connected with the socket 26a. These wires areaccommodated in the blade 22a in an opening formed at its underside inthe manner shown in FIG. 4. If desired, these Wires can be embeddeddirectly in the material of the'blades during molding thereof. The wires36 are embedded in the hub 20 in the manner shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Alsoembedded in the plastic material which forms the casing 32 is a rearcontact 38 directly engaged by one of the conductors 36 and a frontcontact 40 directly engaged by the other of the contacts 36. The rearcontact 38 is exposed in the interior of the casing 32 so as to bepressed against by the rear end of the battery 30. The contact 40 isexposed at the outer periphery of the casing 32 adjacent its front openend.

The cover 34 has a central .contact portion 42 which directly'engagesthe front contact 44 of the battery, and this central contact 42 is inengagement with a contact 46 carried by the cover 34 for turningmovement therewith. This contact 46 has a free end portion 47 whichoverlaps the exterior periphery of the casing 32 at its open end so thatwhen the cover 34 is turned to a given angular position the contact 46will have its portion 47 in slidable engagement with the contact 40,thus completing a circuit through the lamp 24a. In the same way theconductors which are connected to the socket which carries the lamp 24bare electrically connected with the contacts 38 and 40, so that in thisway the turning of the cover 34 to the position placing the contacts 46and 40 in engagement with each other will close the circuit to the lamp24b simultaneously with the closing of the circuit to the lamp 24a. Asmay be seen from the wiring diagram of FIG. 6, closing of the singleswitch 40, 46 will result in simultaneous illumination of the lamps 24aand 2417. This closing and opening of the switch is brought about simplyby turning the cover 34. In order that the operator may know when theswitch is closed, the casing 32 of the support means 28 carries at itsexterior a stationary index 48 cooperating with a turnable index 50carried by the rotary cover 34 so that when the index 50 is aligned withthe index 48 the operator will know that the switch is closed while whenthe index 50 is out of line with the index 48 the operator will know theswitch is open. In this way if it should happen that with the closing ofthe switch the lamps are not illuminated, the operator will know thatthe battery needs to be replaced, or it may be that the lamps requirereplacement.

The pair of lamps 24a and 24b are preferably of different colors so thatwhen the helicopter rotor i turned they will describe circles of lightof different colors, providing a very entertaining effect.

The drive means for the rotor 18 includes a transmission extending fromthe motor 16 to the rotor. Thus, this transmission includes the pinion52 directly driven from the motor 16 and meshing with a gear 54 which isconnected with a drive shaft 56 connected directly to the hub 20 of therotor. The drive shaft 56 is prevented from moving axially in thebearing 58 of the fuselage (FIG. 3) by any suitable collars or the likefixed to the shaft 56.

Thus, with the structure of the invention when the operator closes thesingle switch 40, 46 both of the lamps will be illuminated and when thedrive means is actuated the turning rotor will describe multi-coloredcircles of light providing an exceedingly entertaining illuminatingsystem.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy helicopter, rotor means having a hub and a plurality ofblades radiating therefrom, a lamp socket carried by at least one ofsaid blades, battery-support means carried by said rotor means, forsupporting an electric battery, and electrical circuit means carried bysaid rotor means and electrically interconnecting said socket and abattery carried by said support means, said circuit means having amanually operable switch for closing a circuit to illuminate a lamp insaid socket and for opening said circuit to extinguish said lamp.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said bat- 4 tery-support meansand said switch are located at said hub.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said lamp socket is situatedadjacent an outer tip of said blade.

4-. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said support means includesan elongated casing for receiving a battery, said casing having aremovable cover.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said cover is turnable withrespect to the remainder of said casing, and said manually operableswitch including one contact carried by said casing and another contactcarried by said turnable cover so that when the latter is in one angularposition said switch will be closed when said cover is turned to anotherangular position said switch will be open.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein an indicating means is carriedby said casing and cover for indicating to the operator when said switchis opened and closed.

7. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a second socket is carried bya second rotor blade for mounting a second lamp on said second blade,said electrical circuit means electrically connecting said second socketwith a battery carried by said suport means, and said switch closing thecircuit to the second socket simultaneously with the closing of thecircuit to the first-mentioned socket.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein a pair of lamps of differentcolors are respectively carried by said sockets.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein a drive means is operativelyconnected with said rotor means for rotating the latter, so that whensaid lamps are illuminated a pair of differently colored circles oflight will be described by the driven rotor means.

10. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a drive means is operativelyconnected with said rotor means for rotating the latter to describe acircle of light with an illuminated lamp carried by said socket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1956 Wudyka 46-228 1/1965Stanzel 46-228

1. IN A TOY HELICOPTER, ROTOR MEANS HAVING A HUB AND A PLURALITY OFBLADES RADIATING THEREFROM, A LAMP SOCKET CARRIED BY AT LEAST ONE OFSAID BLADES, BATTERY-SUPPORT MEANS CARRIED BY SAID ROTOR MEANS, FORSUPPORTING AN ELECTRIC BATTERY, AND ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT MEANS CARRIED BYSAID ROTOR MEANS AND ELECTRICALLY INTERCONNECTING SAID SOCKET AND ABATTERY CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT MEANS, SAID CIRCUIT MEANS HAVING AMANUALLY OPERABLE SWITCH FOR CLOSING A CIRCUIT TO ILLUMINATE A LAMP INSAID SOCKET AND FOR OPENING SAID CIRCUIT TO EXTINGUISH SAID LAMP.